Letters to the editor: Just what is this ‘New Direction’ for Craig?

The City of Craig is in poor shape financially. Craig City Council says we need to make some cuts — residents may have to get used to monthly trash pickup, an empty swimming pool, snow packed streets and pot holes, a flowerless downtown, no wood whittling.

City employees could participate as well, perhaps take a 20 percent cut in pay across the board, so that everyone could make a reasoned decision to stay or go.

Not just the employees who receive the greatest pay would be chopped from their positions by retirement, demotion or firing, all in the vendetta of a “New Direction.”

What is this New Direction? It would seem that some would rather leave than implement this new policy. Can the Craig City Council disclose to the people just exactly what this direction is, what it will mean to the future composition of city government and how much all this will cost?

And all members of the council should be embarrassed by the “retirement” of the Chief of Police. Chief Vanatta should have been retired with honors, with a plaque, with a party. Instead he left with vague reasons hovering over his head, a bad taste in everybody’s mind. Each member should write a letter of recommendation, a glowing one, stating the many years of service dedicated to the safety and welfare of Craig citizens. A thank you and an apology.

That could be a “New Direction.”

Jane Hume

Craig resident

Celebrate National Health Center Week 2017

Dear editor,

Northwest Colorado Health invites you to celebrate National Health Center Week. A bright spot in America’s health care system, Community Health Centers serve more than 25 million Americans, a number that continues to grow with the demand for affordable primary care. Together, health centers across the country have a significant record of success that includes:

• Treating patients for a fraction of the average cost of one emergency room visit

• Maintaining patient satisfaction levels of nearly 100 percent

• Serving more than one in six Medicaid beneficiaries for less than two percent of the national Medicaid budget

Community health centers (also called Federally Qualified Health Centers) are located in areas identified by the federal government as high-need with too few physicians, higher than average infant mortality and elevated poverty. Many community health centers are located in rural areas. Helping patients prevent chronic health problems and complications – which contribute to high health care costs – is the driving force behind community health centers. At Northwest Colorado Health, primary care, dental and behavioral health providers work together to increase patients’ chances of attainting optimal health. Our clinics in Craig and Steamboat Springs provide health care to anyone who needs it. We accept Medicaid for all qualified services, including dental. Patients who don’t have insurance pay on a sliding scale. To learn more, go to northwestcoloradohealth.org/chc.

I just read a survey on the internet sponsored by a group called “Lake Research Partners” and “New Bridge Strategy” that claim “that two-thirds of Colorado’s voters favor restoring wolves in Western Colorado.” I am appalled that two-thirds of Colorado’s population is that irresponsible and emotionally ignorant of the true picture.